Sleep...

I am so glad I blogged as much as I did when Allie was a baby because it's really all that's helping me keep my sanity as I attempt to get as "much" sleep at night as possible.

I am a "stack" feeder meaning I feed Reagan 4 ounces every 2-2.5 hours during the day. Just like Allie, she doesn't always take all 4 (so frustrating!) but she gets her belly full throughout the day. My issue is, these half-feedings often turn to half-feedings in the middle of the night when I need her to drain these bottles for sleep purposes.

At this point with Allie (almost 6 weeks), I found a blog post that says she slept from 11 pm to 4:45 am without waking up.

Normally at night, I bathe both girls between 6 and 7, Allie goes to bed around 8:30 and Reagan takes a bottle around the same time. After this bottle she's typically out. Ben stays up with her while he watches TV and tries to feed her again around 11 before putting her down for the night. This 11 pm feeding normally only consists of 2 ounces or so (again, frustrating) which means I'm up between 2 and 3 am to feed (again, normally half of a bottle). Given I KNOW she can go 6 hours between feedings (8:30 pm to at least 2 am) I need to figure out a way to get those 6 hours in the wee hours of the morning so I'm not up at 2 or 3.

Last night I fed Reagan around 8 pm and bathed her at 9:15 pm, HOPING to keep her awake and get a full belly around 11 pm. I went to bed at 10 and Ben was in charge of the 11 pm feeding. Of course she fell asleep at 9:30 pm and only took 2 ounces or so at the 11 pm feeding.

...and she was up ready to eat at 2:45 am, which she only took another 2 ounces.

I am going to try this again tonight, again, just hoping for at least 5 continuous hours of sleep from 11 pm to at least 4 am.

Any advice for getting a newborn to stop only taking half bottles, especially during the times it truly matters???